Rorem is an accomplished artist in two realms, music and literature, in the latter as a diarist as well as an essayist on music. He scandalised America with The Paris Diary (1966) and continued to in several more tell-all diaries focused on intimate encounters with the rich, famous, and beautiful. In Lies (2000), however, he poignantly reflected on his dying lover and many friends who have succumbed to AIDS. This book excerpts the supposed best from the diaries and Lies and re-presents it in three topical sections on the art of the diary, music, and death and acquaintances who have died. The departed he writes about include both people he has close relationships with--among them, Leonard Bernstein, Samuel Barber, and Frank O'Hara--and some he disliked, such as Truman Capote. Lacking the shock value of some of the books from which it draws, this reader offers instead a touching self-portrait in words that highlight Rorem's writing and thought.